Afghanistan's Cultural Riches Threatened By Mineral Wealth

Mes Aynak, meaning "little copper well," was the center of a Buddhist Kingdom before Islam came to Afghanistan

Flanked by waves of mountains and gray desert, the road leading from the Afghan capital to the ancient ruins of Mes Aynak ends abruptly at the foot of a dusty hilltop.

From that vantage point, 40 kilometers from Kabul, one can get a clear picture of Afghanistan's rich cultural past, and its efforts to generate wealth in the future.

The grounds of Mes Aynak in Logar Province is a sprawling 9,800-acre trove of Buddhist monastery ruins, statues, and tombs that sit largely preserved under layers of unexcavated earth. It is also the site of a massive Chinese-funded project to extract an increasingly valuable regional commodity -- copper.

The Mes Aynak site has many historical monuments

Mes Aynak, meaning "little copper well," was the center of a Buddhist Kingdom before Islam came to Afghanistan. It is thought that monks settled here for its ample supply of copper, which brought them great wealth and allowed them to build a grand monastery.

But if copper led to the creation of the settlement, it appears now that it will also lead to its destruction.

Crucial For Economic Future

The Chinese-government-backed China Metallurgical Group Corporation made a successful bid of $3 billion for mineral rights to the site in 2008, making the project the largest foreign investment project in the country at the time.

With geologists estimating that 2 billion tons of copper lie beneath Mes Aynak, the development of the site is key to Afghanistan's economic future.

Some of the artifacts found at the Mes Ainak sitexSome of the artifacts found at the Mes Ainak site??The deal also includes infrastructure development, including the construction of a power plant at the site, a village for workers, and a railway line from western China through Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Pakistan.

And it means that Mes Aynak, which sits on the second-largest known unexploited copper deposits in the world, is slated for destruction to make way for a massive open-cast copper mine.

Repeated attempts to reach China Metallurgical Group Corporation for comment on the company's plans were unsuccessful.

Some of the artifacts found at the Mes Ainak site

But what is known is that the company first intended to start mining in 2009, but agreed to a three-year delay for a basic excavation of the site.

Race Against Time

That deadline, which was set to expire this year, was prolonged again to 2014. Now dozens of Afghan and international archaeologists, who began excavating the site in 2009, are in a race against time to save what they can.

Haji Akbar, who heads a local committee in Logar for Mes Aynak, says efforts to unearth the historical artifacts have been intensified, with hundreds of local laborers being hired to help with the digging.

Mes Aynak holds remains of civilizations going as far back as the 3rd century B.C.

The Mes Aynak archaeological site in Afghanistan

Akbar maintains that only a small portion of the huge site has so far been fully excavated. And, according to him, what has been unearthed so far is nothing short of incredible.

"The excavation in the region is going at a tremendous pace," he says. "We have even uncovered a whole city underneath the site. We have found ancient Buddha statues and jewelry."

Akbar, who heads the local committee that supervises all the excavation activities at Mes Aynak, says he is cautiously optimistic that the intensified efforts of the excavation teams can save most of the artifacts at the site before the deadline in 2014.

So far, most of the unearthed relics have been transferred to the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, while other larger artifacts are being stored at a makeshift museum in Mes Aynak.

The Afghan government plans to eventually build a museum in the area to accommodate the vast collection of artifacts after the excavation ends.

Lightning Rod For Criticism

The project does have the support of some Afghan archaeologists and historians. But the mining project is also a lightning rod for criticism, with opponents saying the Afghan government is sacrificing Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage in favor of economic development.

The numbers of the potential wealth are staggering. If the predictions are correct, mining the site could generate more than $1 billion a year for the Afghan government. That would account for about one-tenth of Afghanistan's current GDP.

The Mes Aynak site has many historical monuments.xThe Mes Aynak site has many historical monuments.??Omara Khan Massoudi, director of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, has indicated that he is concerned about the destruction of Mes Aynak, but he remains supportive of the project, which he hopes will help the country’s dire economy and its poverty-stricken people.

"Afghanistan’s mineral wealth has yet to be fully utilized," he says. "In the face of poverty and continuing economic problems, it’s important for the Mining Ministry to sign contracts with the leading international companies to effectively use these minerals. Exploring these mines will have a huge economic benefit."

Afghanistan's untapped mineral wealth has been estimated by U.S. geologists to amount to nearly $1 trillion. Reserves include large amounts of copper, gold, cobalt, and lithium.

Years Of Destruction And Looting

Massoudi, who has worked at the national museum for the past 27 years, believes mining projects like Mes Aynak will create jobs as well as generate money that can be used by the Afghan government to fund other important sectors such as health and education.

He maintains that money generated by mining is becoming increasingly important as international forces leave Afghanistan and financial aid from the international community decreases.

"We will need this as it will create jobs and play a big role in the country's economy," he says. "It will also pave the road toward peace and security and trickle more money toward other sectors such as education."

Massoudi adds that the battle to rescue the ancient relics in Mes Aynak is just the latest in a long line of ordeals that Afghan historians and archaeologists have had to face in the country.

He cites decades of civil war and foreign invasions that have plagued the country's recent history. In that time, Afghanistan's antiquities and historical sites have suffered years of destruction and looting.

For Massoudi, historical and cultural preservation is one of the biggest issues facing Afghanistan. But he says that battle has only just begun as the country continues to grapple with poverty, war, and extremism.